The Other Girl Next Door
by goblinphantomgirl
Summary: Based upon Pika La Cynique's webcomic Girls Next Door. Sarah and Christine have a new roommate who seems to have a bit of a thing for Erik. Follow her as she experiences life in the apartment building and brings an outsider's perspective to this crazy cross-verse. Perhaps Jareth and Sarah's relationship might blossom along the way... : Erik/OC, J/S, Christine/Raoul
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: New Roommate**

Sweat trickled down the nape of my neck and tiny strands of hair dangled in my face irritatingly as I leapt between the piles of boxes in my new apartment. Until this moment, I had never wished before that I'd had less stuff. Sarah, one of my new roommates, had offered to stay home to help me unpack but I didn't want her to miss out on her lecture. I kind of regretted that now but knew that I'd made the right choice. Now I just had to unpack all this stuff.

'Ugh' I reached out with my leg to kick one of the boxes in the direction of my room and hit my knee on another box which stood teetering in its path 'Ow!' I cursed under my breath. Hopefully, this would be the last time I'd have to move all my stuff for a long time.

'Ding Dong,' Yay, the doorbell, that meant more boxes. I slowly began to hobble towards the doorway. 'Coming!' I yelled out when I was halfway across the room. It was like trying to navigate an obstacle course. I really hoped I could get this stuff sorted out before Sarah and Christine got home that evening, or that I'd at least be able to push all the boxes into my room before then.

I suddenly missed my old apartment. I'd gotten on really well with my previous roommate. But she'd decided to give up law and move back to her parents' house in another state to work with them in their successful real estate business. Anyway, I wasn't having any luck finding another roommate to replace her and there was no way I was going to be able to afford to pay the rent on the minimal wages I got as a tutor at a local high-school.

One day, I was moaning in a law lecture about my misfortune when another student, who up until then I had only really viewed from a distance, came over and asked me if I'd be interested in giving up my old apartment and moving in with her and her current roommate, who were currently looking for someone to take their spare room. It was a tough decision leaving what had been my home since I'd moved up here to go to the university, but I had little choice and I appreciated Sarah's kindness and generosity in making the offer to me (which I suspected was based solely upon my misfortune, I hadn't seen any advertisements for the room up around the campus).

When I finally accepted her offer a few days later, I can remember thanking her and her saying something about 'stacking the odds in our favour' and 'having an advantage over them.' I wasn't sure what she really meant and as I reflected on this as I hobbled across the apartment's living room covered in boxes, I still wasn't sure that I really understood.

Over the coming weeks, we'd become closer as we'd began to plan when I would move in and Sarah had begun to tell me about her current roommate, Christine Daae. Sarah told me that she was a famous opera singer from Paris and I finally met her a week ago with all the nervousness and trepidation that comes from meeting someone older than you, more famous than you and someone that I felt I owed something to. This woman was, after all, letting me into her home.

The moment Sarah pointed her out sauntering across the car park however in a pair of skinny jeans, a halter top and some pumps however, with a massive grin stretched across her face, my nervousness disappeared and I knew that I was going to like Christine as much as I liked Sarah. We all sat down to have some coffee and we laughed and joked over some general chit-chat like how packing my stuff was going and the food at the new cafeteria at the university. The funniest part was when Sarah and I told Christine about our property law lecturer who had shoulder length long black hair that flicked when he turned his head like Severus Snape. We all laughed so hard when I started mimicking the action that we soon got death stares from the middle-aged people trying the read their newspapers, which only made us laugh more.

When we'd finally settled down, I thought I'd enquire a little about the broader apartment environment, my previous apartment having been on the other side of town. I stirred my coffee and looked down at it as I asked casually:

'So, what are the neighbours like?' When I glanced up, I noticed Sarah and Christine looking at each other, silently. It wasn't the reaction I was expecting.

'That bad aye?' I took a sip of coffee. 'Are they noisy, annoying? One of my neighbours from my old building used to play his trombone all night long, it used to drive me crazy.'

'Well,' Christine sighed, 'I suppose noisy and annoying is one way of putting it.' She reached for her coffee and took a sip. 'Let's just say that there are a couple of guys that we have a kind of past with that drive us both a bit crazy.'

'oh, like ex-boyfriends?' I asked.

'Yeah, sort of...' Christine answered, a little unconvincingly.

'...Never got that far.' I heard Sarah stammer adamantly inside her coffee cup.

'They can be a little bit strange and irritating but they aren't dangerous at all. You'll be perfectly safe with us.' Christine smiled and gently patted my hand which lay on the coffee table.

'Well...' Sarah began. But one sharp glance from Christine soon silenced that.

Needless to say, I pretty much forgot about the whole conversation amid the anarchy of packing until I opened the front door. Whoever I was expecting it wasn't that! My mouth made a small 'O' as I examined this stranger, right from his shining black leather shoes, to his black satin trousers and matching vest over a white cotton shirt, right up to the white porcelain mask and glossy black hair which fell in waves down the back of his head. His mouth was hard, but his soft, shining green eyes revealed his surprise when he spotted me. Evidently, he hadn't been warned of my arrival.

'Who are you?' He finally ventured to ask.

'I'm Nicole, the new roommate.' I reached out to shake his black gloved hand. He hesitated for a second, before taking it and shaking it promptly.

He stared at me wonderingly for a moment more, which made me feel a little uncomfortable, particularly once I'd remembered that I was wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt and that my hair, which normally fell in frizzy brown curls, was even more wild than normal after a morning shifting cardboard boxes.

Eventually he muttered 'I came to see Christine briefly.'

'Oh, she's just at the university at the moment, sorry.' I replied very briskly.

'It's Wednesday, she always comes home for an hour at lunch on Wednesdays.' He pulled a gold pocket watch from one of his vest pockets to check to time, 'she should be home very soon.'

He tucked the watch back into his pocket and looked up at me, questioningly once more. 'I'll come back up in a few minutes then.' He began to turn away.

'No!' I reached out to him and caught his arm and regretted it immediately. He didn't look angry or disgusted by the fact that I had touched him, just surprised. He looked down at where my hand lay on his arm and I quickly removed it. I just felt embarrassed and I felt my cheeks grow red as I looked back at him.

'I mean, there's no point going all the way downstairs when you're going to come back up in a few minutes anyway. Come in' I gestured for him to enter the apartment and after quickly shutting the door, hobbled past him to try and push some of the boxes out of the way of the couch, where he very slowly and gracefully sat down.

'Can I get you anything to drink at all? Coffee? Tea?'

'Coffee would be splendid thank you, black with two sugars please.' I nodded and then swung into the kitchenette, filling the jug with the water and setting it to boil before dashing around to fill two cups with tea, coffee and sugar.

After running around to make the drinks, I tried to walk slowly and casually over to couch, partially because the thought of spilling the drinks horrified me, partially because I had a strange attraction to this person; a great desire to please him and impress him. I made it safely to the coffee table and set the two cups upon coasters, taking a seat gingerly at the opposite end of the three-seater. We just sat for a moment, letting the drinks cool, before I remembered something:

'Oh, I don't even know you're name yet.' I smiled at him.

'It's Erik.' My heart slowed a little bit when I saw him give a small smile back. It was only small, but his green eyes glistened when he smiled and I desperately wanted to see them glisten again.

'So, how do you know Christine?'

'From the Opera.' He replied softly.

'Oh, you worked there too?' I asked.

'Sort of.' Another one of those unconvincing answers. I already got the feeling that there was a lot of things that I didn't know about going on around here. I'd find out eventually though, I wasn't going to pry. Particularly as the door opened at that moment and Christine sauntered in. Erik leapt up from the couch and I felt a sudden spark of jealousy over the fact that she could invoke such a response from him. While she smiled at him though, I sensed that her feelings for him fell slightly short of his feelings for her.

I quickly excused myself and grabbing a box, ran into my room and shut the door. I'd get used to this place and all these people with time. At least I hoped so.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Coffee and Scrying**

Over the coming weeks, my friendship with Erik gradually began to deepen. I soon found out that Christine came home for lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and while I had to go to the university on Thursdays and Fridays, I looked forward to his visits twice a week. By the second week, I'd turn the jug on to boil as soon as I heard the doorbell and he never failed to show.

I was graced with those glistening green eyes on several occasions and I never got sick of seeing them. His joy was soon evident on the rest of his face too and I even saw him laugh once. I've never been so happy to see someone else happy. Our conversations became more relaxed and deeper and we soon found out that we had similar thoughts and interests.

While his visits started as the brief run in before Christine arrived home, he soon began coming up half an hour earlier to have coffee and a chat. I looked forward to that half an hour without fail for the rest of the week. It always felt as though we came so close to talking about ourselves, personal thoughts and feelings that we had. But we never got that far. Christine always seemed to arrive home at that point and the spell was broken. The glistening green eyes would leave mine and he would gracefully rise up from his seat to turn and greet her.

I really liked Christine: she was funny, sweet and kind and a good friend to me. But there was a part of me that hated the fact that he always looked so happy to see her. He always greeted her with such enthusiasm and devotion yet he was consistently met with a polite yet cool response. I wondered if she realised what she could have and then told myself that_ I_ didn't even know. Sure, I had talked to this guy before on a number of occasions, but I still knew nothing about his past or about him generally. He could be some sort of homicidal maniac for all I knew!

I was very aware of the fact that there were many things that my roommates had chosen, for whatever reason, not to reveal to me yet and I trusted their judgment. Christine was aware of the fact that Erik came up to have coffee with me on a regular basis and said nothing about it, so I took that to mean that it was ok. I was content with that for now.

When Christine arrived home, I'd usually greet her and then excuse myself to go to my bedroom and do something else while they talked. I'd usually read, and found that when I lost myself in something exciting, I could almost forget about the couple that sat out in my living room, talking without me. I opened the door a crack once, to peer out at them. I felt a bit of a fool doing it but I couldn't help myself.

I soon figured out that he was assisting Christine with her university work, which made more sense when I found out from Sarah that Erik was a music lecturer at the university. They nattered away in a mix of English and French, which to be honest made me feel even more alienated as I couldn't understand a bloody word they were saying. Still, despite this, I contented myself with the fact that Erik obviously thought me a friend and that while he didn't greet me with the obvious devotion he showed to Christine, he always looked happy to see me and enjoyed the time we spent together.

I was lying on my bed, reading through one of my textbooks one Tuesday when I heard the doorbell. I thought it was strange as I wasn't expecting anyone, and prayed silently that it wasn't someone selling something. I never knew what to say to those guys. How do you tell someone politely to shove off?

When I opened the door I was surprised to see Erik standing there, smiling down at me.

'Hello Nicole.'

'Oh, hi Erik.' I must have looked confused but he didn't say anything, just stood there in the doorway, staring down at me, eyes glistening with mirth.

'Um, isn't it Tuesday.' I finally asked.

'It is.' He replied simply.

'It's just that you normally only come over on Mondays and Wednesdays,' I blurted out finally, realising that while he probably knew exactly why I looked so confused, he wasn't going to help me out by explaining. I sensed that he was actually quite amused by the situation, an expression I would never have picked as one which he would have possessed the first time I met him with his stern expression.

'If I'm intruding I'll just come back tomorrow.' He began to turn away.

I reached out to him, my hand just falling short of his arm and he looked down at it, curiously. It was what he always did when I touched him, even slightly, or came close to doing so.

'You're not intruding. I'd love to have coffee with you.' I murmured. I looked a little concerned and forced a smile on my face to show that I genuinely wanted him to stay.

He turned back to face me, smiled and then sauntered into my apartment, flicking up his coat tails like a pianist as he settled himself into what had become his spot on the couch.

I swept off to the kitchen to boil the jug and get the cups ready, still a little surprised and curious about this change of routine but thrilled nonetheless that he had chosen to come over when it wasn't just to see Christine. He had come over to see me. This was good.

I made the drinks and setting them down on the coffee table, settled myself back into the lounge. He picked up his cup, blew on it to cool it and sat back similarly.

'So,' I ventured, smiling a little awkwardly, 'you just felt like a coffee?'

'That and some decent conversation.' I smiled at that. 'Plus, any excuse to get away from my roommate is a good excuse.' Not so good.

'Well, he can't be that bad surely?' I sipped my coffee.

'Hah, Jareth? You obviously haven't met him yet.' I saw his eyes cloud as he thought about this obvious menace of a roommate but I sensed that half of it was playful, they did live together after all.

'I would have thought that Sarah would have mentioned him a few times, cursing under her breath,' he continued. Erik had his bare hands wrapped around his hot coffee mug and he stroked the handle slowly with his right thumb.

'Well,' I sighed, 'I must say I have heard his name mentioned a few times before, but Sarah doesn't like discussing him.' I wondered what he ever could have done in invoke such animosity in her...

* * *

_The Next Day – Jareth's Point of View_

Ok, yes, it was ready to go. Jareth sat on the couch in the living room of the apartment he shared with Erik. The latter was in his own room, composing some melody or other so he wasn't to be aware of what Jareth was up to.

You see, he was having a bit of a hard time. Sarah had caught one of his goblins stealing her favourite red lacy bra (he couldn't resist red lace) and she'd subsequently declared war on him (quite irrationally he thought). Consequently, she had refused to see or speak to him for the past couple of weeks, despite him engaging in his best reconciliatory tactics (fluffy owl form).

Typical of his tendency to make an angry Sarah even angrier, he'd decided to stash one of his crystals in her bathroom so that he could watch her. He was going through a state of withdrawal after all. Such behaviour was to be expected, of him anyway.

Last time the crystal had been too obvious. He'd tried to disguise it as a bubble, but once it had failed to pop, suspicions were aroused (a fatal oversight). That and the fact that he'd been spying on Miss Daae mistakenly. This was unfortunately a mistake which had also brought the wrath of his roommate down upon him. He'd tried to calmly resolve the situation by explaining to Erik that if _he_ had crystal scrying powers, he would have done the same thing, but that had somehow backfired. Now Jareth was forced to undertake this endeavour while Erik was safely locked away in his room composing.

The crystal sat hidden behind some lacy curtains on the window sill above the toilet. Unfortunately therefore, the view wasn't perfect but it meant he could spy in peace. She should be here any second now...

Yes, there she was. Sarah walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind her, easily distinguishable from Miss Daae by her brunette locks (Miss Daae was blonde), although he thought that her hair seemed a little different today. Oh well, who else could it be? Jareth tried to zoom in as Sarah undressed and clambered into the shower. He happily sat and watched for ten minutes, the natural voyeur, while she showered, got out, and put on a bath robe which had been lying over the side of the bathtub.

The crystal was a little foggy by this time from the steam and the image was a bit blurred but it was better than nothing. She still hadn't spotted him.

'Hey Sarah?' Jareth froze. Surely Sarah didn't just say that.

'Yeah.' He heard a voice outside the bathroom answer back.

'There's no towels left in the linen closet.'

'I'm just washing them, I'll grab you one out of the dryer.'

A couple of seconds later, Sarah walked into the bathroom, holding a white towel.

'Thanks' the person who he had thought was Sarah replied. She took the towel, threw her head down and quickly tied her hair up in it. Well this was awkward, at least she hadn't spotted him.

'Hey, what's that.' He looked up. Oh no, the stranger was pointing right at him.

'Jareth, what are you doing?' He spun around hurriedly to see Erik looking at him suspiciously.

Grabbing the crystal out of his hands, and evidently spotting Sarah standing fully clothed in the bathroom next to the mystery woman in a bathrobe, his face took on a look of recognisable fury. Jareth wasn't sure why he even cared; it wasn't like he was spying on Miss Daae... again. Hopefully he hadn't taken over the role of policeman. That would make things difficult. Still, based upon that rather frightening look Erik had on his face and the outstretched arms ready to strangle him, he thought he had better poof off to James and Javert's apartment across the hall. Once he had done so, he collapsed onto their couch with a sigh.

'Erik trying to kill you again?' James asked casually, as he walked past with a newspaper. Javert just glared from his arm chair.

'Yes!' Jareth turned to Javert. 'Shouldn't you be stopping him or something, you are the peace keeper around here.'

'I am.' Javert answered slowly. 'But I also believe in justice. Whatever reason it may be for, if Erik wants to kill you, you probably deserve it.' Jareth glared back.

'JARETH!' They all jumped as the scream of fury permeated the walls into the apartment from upstairs.

'And Sarah too. You sure are making a good day of it aren't you.' James smiled sickeningly. Jareth wanted to punch him in the face.

He sat back in the lounge, crossed his arms and legs and thrust out his bottom lip. Bloody mystery woman, pretending to be his Sarah. She had ruined everything!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Chai Tea and Tai Chi**

As I lay face-down on my bed, I found myself contemplating my life at the moment. It had been an eventful couple of weeks but I was finally adjusting to life in the apartment building with Sarah and Christine...and Erik. I had started smiling unconsciously when he came to mind. I sighed to myself. That wasn't going to happen. Not with my luck.

It was a Tuesday, nearly a week following on from the 'shower incident'. My face got hot just thinking about it. To think that some random guy had been perving on me that whole time! I suppose random wasn't really the right word though. From what I could pick up, this Jareth guy figured quite significantly in the lives of my roommates. Sarah's scream of outrage once she'd snatched the offending item off the window-sill also indicated to me that it wasn't the first time that something like that had happened, an assumption which had been confirmed once Sarah and I had related the incident to Christine later that day and I had heard about the 'bubble incident.' Honestly, who was this guy?

I thought about all this as I lay on my bed, trying to do my property law readings for class the next day, all 150 pages of them. I normally had Property Law on Thursdays but my lecturer had to go somewhere (Hogwarts probably) so he'd moved this week's class to Wednesday morning. At least I'd be back in time for coffee with Erik. Sarah had managed to get her reading done earlier in the week but I'd been stuck doing a marketing group assignment and after submitting it online the day before, had collapsed onto the couch, more than happy to forget about uni while I chatted to Erik about x, y and z over coffee.

I sighed again. I'd just read the same line three times and I still didn't know what it said_ and _I was only 25 pages in. Seemed like time for a tea-break. I rolled side-ways off my bed with as much grace as I could be bothered expressing and slowly trudged out to the living-room and into the kitchenette.

Half-awake, I filled the jug up with water from the tap, set it to boil and got a mug down from the cupboard. Unscrewing the lid of the tea canister, I reached inside to grab a tea-bag. 'You're kidding me?!' None left. Pushing it back into the corner of the bench, I took a sidelong glance at the jar of golden blend next to it. Should I just have coffee instead? I thought about it but as much as I tried to convince myself that it would do, I had a weird tea craving and coffee just wasn't going to do it. Don't ask me why. The thought of going all the way down to the store to get some more was...undesirable.

Hang on! I could always head downstairs and borrow one. That strange mix of excitement and anxiety came over me as I thought about the possibility. It was just a normal, neighbourly thing to do. I didn't need to be nervous, I told myself. Although the thought of reversing roles and turning up at Erik's door without warning was a little strange to think about, I would much rather he be there, than have to face meeting his roommate alone. The idea of facing the guy whose familiarity with my body was second only to my own wasn't a thought I welcomed.

A thought suddenly occurred to me and I quickly flipped open the lid of our steel sugar bowl. It had sugar in it. At least I was to be spared _that _cliché. I picked up my keys and locking the door of my apartment behind me, headed over to the stairs.

When I arrived outside the door of Erik's apartment a minute later, I just stood and stared at it. 'Just get the teabag' the voice in my head said. 'It's only Erik, what's the worst that could happen?'

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door: 'knock knock.' I waited a couple of seconds but I couldn't hear anyone coming. I knocked again: 'knock knock.' I waited, still nothing. 'Erik?' I called out. Maybe he was out? I pressed my ear up against the door. I couldn't hear footsteps, but I could definitely hear music in the background so someone must have been home. Maybe Erik was lost in a composition or something? Apparently that happened sometimes.

I grabbed the doorknob and found to my surprise that it turned easily in my hand. It wasn't locked. Oh well, I thought. Slowly, I turned the door handle and pushed the door open.

'Erik, I just came over to – OH MY GOD!' My hands flew to my face as I quickly turned away from the sight which had both startled and shocked me.

The next thing I heard was Erik's voice 'What's going on in here?' I heard him pause and then exclaim 'JARETH! How many times have I told you NOT to practice naked yoga in the living-room!'

Yes, I had seen some weird, twisted pile of naked flesh on the living-room carpet. My first thought was that I was having some crazy nightmare or something. I wasn't that fortunate. Well, I guess at least now we were even.

'It's alright Nicole, he's decent now.' I shivered as I heard Erik speaking to me. Somehow he'd managed to walk the length of the room as silently as a cat and as I removed my hands from my eyes, I saw that I was only a foot away from me, staring down at me.

Turning from him, I looked over to where his roommate stood smirking at me, hands on hips. I had to admit that at second-glance, he was pretty impressive. He was wearing boots with a heel, grey tights (which were difficult to tear my eyes away from once I'd reached a... certain prominent area), grey gloves and a ruffled white silk shirt with an amulet that looked sort of like an upside down crescent moon. He also had some strange yet enthralling detail around his eyes and probably the only blonde mullet haircut I had ever seen which looked good.

All together, he was totally different from anything I had ever seen before and he was oddly enthralling, similar to Erik and yet different. With Erik, there was a sort of deep darkness about him that drew you in. With the man before me, it was something different; somehow it was more magical and sexual. This was the guy that Sarah despised so much?

'So you're the mystery woman?' He grinned and looked me up and down as he took a few steps forward. His voice was as smooth as melted chocolate and he had a London accent I thought. I didn't reply.

'I am Jareth, King of the Goblins and Lord of the Labyrinth.' He reached out to take my hand. I hesitated for a moment, still slightly enthralled as I continued to stare up at him and then took his gloved hand and shook it.

'Nicole. Pleased to meet you.'

He smiled at me and then turned and walked over to fall gracefully onto the couch. He swung one leg over its arm and sat there, continuing to smile at me as Erik and I continued to stand, staring at him. While I was fascinated by this strange character however, I could feel the heat of Erik's glare from where I was standing. Evidently, Jareth was aware of Erik's disapproval and was getting immense enjoyment out of it while showing off in front of me.

'So Nicole,' he began to fiddle with the crescent moon amulet which hung around his neck, absentmindedly, 'you live upstairs with Miss Daaé and the delectable Miss Williams.'

'Yes.' I wasn't sure where the train of conversation was going. I wondered if he often referred to Sarah like that. Probably, he seemed the type.

'I envy you,' he murmured. I was surprised by his response. I decided I'd have to ask the girls a few questions about Jareth later.

'Was there something I could help you with?' Erik asked suddenly. I'd almost forgotten he was there. How the hell did that happen?

'I just came over to borrow a teabag actually,' I replied, tearing my eyes away from the figure sprawled languidly on the couch.

'Of course,' Erik smiled and then stole over to his kitchen to grab the item, glaring at Jareth as he went past the couch. Jareth appeared not to notice. 'Would to like to stay for tea and coffee?'

My eyes flicked from one man to the other as they both stared at me from their respective positions across the room. It was a tempting option but unfortunately not one that I could afford right now. I still had over 100 pages of lengthy legalese to get through before tomorrow.

'I'd love to but I have a lot of uni work to do unfortunately' I replied.

'That is unfortunate,' Erik grabbed a teabag from a box in his cupboard and walked over to where I stood, to hand it to me. 'However, you're welcome to drop in whenever you have some free time.' He turned to look at Jareth, 'right Jareth?'

'Yes of course.' Jareth replied smoothly and setting his leg down from the arm of the chair, sat up straighter and faced me. 'Do bring Sarah with you next time won't you.'

I looked up at Erik and smiled at his raised eyebrow. Apparently the chances of that happening were slim.

'I'll see what I can do,' I replied and smiling, turned and walked out.


	4. Chapter 4

_Please **R&R **I own nothing but my own imagination. :)  
_

**Chapter Four: Laughter and Broken Hearts**

After the whole naked yoga debacle (which I still shudder to think about), we had a relatively quiet few days in the girls' apartment. I couldn't resist telling Sarah and Christine about it though. While Christine and I had happily giggled about the idea of seeing something so...intimate, though perhaps a little unusual, Sarah had raved on about how it was typical Jareth behaviour and that he probably did it purposefully, just waiting for one of us to come down to their apartment.

'Oh come on Sarah, lighten up,' Christine had said, playfully punching the fuming girl in the arm, 'you have to admit that it is pretty funny.'

'Though shocking,' I added. I still hadn't decided which of the two were the more dominant in my mind at the thought of the display I had seen. I decided to settle for a happy combination of both.

'Hmph, whatever,' Sarah replied, crossing her arms tightly in front of her.

A thought suddenly occurred to me and I paused to reflect on my memory of the infamous event. 'I thought it was strange how Erik reacted though,' I put to them after a moment.

'Why?' they both asked in unison, turning to me curiously.

'Well, it's just that I can recall him saying something like "Jareth! How many times have I told you NOT to practice naked yoga in the living room," as though it were a frequent occurrence.'

'Well that's not surprising,' Sarah stated, almost sounding disappointed that I hadn't remembered something more interesting. 'As I pointed out just a moment ago, Jareth does these sorts of creepy things all the time. It's a major contributing factor of why I can barely stand the sight of him.'

'That's a touch harsh Sarah,' Christine scolded. 'You don't really dislike him that much.'

Sarah sighed and eyes downcast responded with a sad sounding, 'I guess so,' which seemed to satisfy Christine. I noticed the look she gave me though which seemed to imply 'yes, I do dislike him that much.' I found it difficult not to laugh, as Christine appeared not to have noticed.

My thoughts returning to my former point however, I asked 'so it's a usual thing for Erik to see Jareth naked then?' My eyes grew to the size of saucers as I exclaimed, 'Oh God, they aren't... together...are they?'

The girls both burst out laughing while I remained with a look of horror frozen on my face. 'Nicole,' Sarah managed to blurt out, 'of course not!'

I was relieved at their response. I had after all just entertained the thought that I had recently been perving on two guys who were likely to be more into each other than me. I still asked 'Are you sure,' though.

'Yes,' Christine responded breathlessly after most of the laughter had subsided. 'We're pretty sure.'

'Still,' Sarah noted, 'at least they wouldn't come lurking around here as much, perving on all of us.'

Recalling the earlier 'bubble incident' I joined with Christine in answering with a definite 'agreed.'

* * *

It was Friday evening and I looked up in surprise from the books I had been reading when Sarah burst in through the front door, angrily collapsing onto the couch and punching one of the cushions twice for good measure.

'Something wrong Sarah?' I asked quietly. I really didn't want any of that wrath turning on me.

She sighed, 'it's Jack. I caught him flirting with some tart out the front of the campus on my way out.'

'Hmm,' I responded. I could still remember when Sarah had first met Jack a couple of weeks ago "out the front of the campus." While obviously a charmer, the dreadlocks, beard and tattoos were enough to put me off big time. Sarah however, had fallen hook, line and sinker. There was a part of me that wasn't surprised that he'd done the dirty on her.

'Well?' she asked, looking up at me questioningly.

I replied with a simple, 'you can do better,' deciding that a discussion of the lengthy list of "why Jack was an a***hole" would only get Sarah more riled up.

Sarah sighed but appeared to accept the response. We both jumped as Christine's bedroom door was suddenly yanked open and the diva stormed out into the living space, spurting out a heap of what were evidently French curse words.

Sarah glanced down to where Christine still had the portable telephone clutched in her hand, strangling it tightly. 'Trouble with Raoul?'

'Yes!' Christine spat, 'he's cancelled dinner tomorrow night...AGAIN!' She sighed and flopped down on to the sofa beside Sarah, who appeared to have forgotten her own guy problems, 'I've had enough.'

She was glancing down and it was only when she looked up at us again that we noticed that tears were brimming in her blue eyes. She looked frightened. 'You... you don't think he's seeing someone else...do you?'

'Oh course not,' Sarah responded, patting her friend on the back comfortingly, 'do you honestly think that he would have gone to all that trouble...risked his life! If he didn't love you?'

'What?' I uttered suddenly.

The two girls looked up mysteriously, 'we'll explain later,' they replied in unison.

'Now come on Christine,' said Sarah, her attention returning to her weeping friend, 'I think what we all need is a girls night out.'

Christine sobbed but gave a small smile.

Sarah rose up from the couch, resembling a highly determined feminist as she uttered 'screw them all!'

'Here, here,' Christine replied quietly, lifting up her imaginary glass to toast the proclamation.

'You're so lucky that you don't have a guy to worry about Nicole,' Christine said, smiling as she reached across gently to touch my knee.

'Totally,' I responded under my breath.

* * *

_An hour later – Jareth's POV_

'A month Erik, that's how long it's been, ONE MONTH!' Jareth sounded manic as he paced across their living room.

Erik glanced up, clearly uninterested in his roommate's predicament, from the sheets of music he had sprawled out in front of him. 'Well clearly you shouldn't have stolen her underwear Jareth.'

Jareth gave his roommate a menacing glance before he flopped down onto the couch beside him, sighing overdramatically. 'She's completely overreacting; even fluffy owl form didn't work.'

'She may be,' Erik replied, continuing to examine the pages in front of him, 'but have you ever heard of the metaphor "the straw that breaks the camel's back" Jareth?'

'Of course,' Jareth snapped, 'what has that got to do with it?'

'Clearly, you forcing your goblins to steal her underwear was the final straw. She's had enough.'

Jareth sighed again and then rose up quickly from the couch. 'That's it, we're going out, I can't stay in this apartment a minute longer.'

'Jareth,' Erik replied slowly, placing his papers gently back onto the table, obviously realising that he wasn't going to be able to concentrate while ever Jareth was moaning to him, 'as happy as I am at the prospect of getting rid of your moping self from the apartment for an entire evening, I don't see why I have to join you in drinking your sorrows away.'

'Oh come on Phantom,' Jareth replied, 'it's not as if you don't have sorrows to drink away.'

Erik ran his hand gently down the page in front of him titled: "Faust – an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod," before rising gracefully from the couch to retrieve his coat.


End file.
